Alabama Student Charged with Felony Assault for Head Stomp in Fight Between Fraternities
A University of Alabama student has been charged with felony assault after he allegedly stomped on another student's head during a fight between fraternities earlier this month.
In court documents filed Friday, investigators with the multi-agency Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit said officers were called to the Lambda Chi Alpha house on Jefferson Avenue around 1 a.m. on September 3rd.
Police said members of the fraternity were in an earlier dispute with members of the neighboring Sigma Phi Epsilon house, and around 10 SigEps walked over to the enclosed porch of the LCA house and began quarreling with three men sitting outside.
The confrontation escalated into a mutual fight between the two groups, and during the altercation, one of the Lambda Chi Alphas was knocked to the ground, police say.
Investigators say one of the SigEps, 20-year-old Allen Dallas Coppinger, approached the victim as he lay on the ground and stomped on the back of his head, driving his skull into the concrete below.
Police say Coppinger struck and kicked the victim several more times before leaving the area.
The altercation was reportedly caught on surveillance cameras, and police say the victim was lying on the ground, apart from the rest of the fighting, and "appeared to be helpless" when Coppinger allegedly stomped, kicked and punched him.
The victim was taken to DCH Regional Medical Center, where he was placed in the intensive care unit. Court documents said he suffered multiple skull fractures and a brain bleed.
Records indicate Coppinger was arrested Thursday, more than three weeks after the events allegedly unfolded.
He has been charged with second-degree assault, a felony, and was booked in the Tuscaloosa County Jail. He has since been released on a $15,000 bond and his mugshot was not publicly available Friday.